15 Days

Day 3

Day 3

"So how did yesterday go?" Margie immediately pounced the second I set foot in homeroom. I sighed, brushing past her on my way to my desk. "Oh...that bad?" She asked, still in tow. I frowned.

"No. Not at first. Well," I hesitated then decided not to finish that sentence as I thought of the silence in the ice cream shop. Geez, what a crap date. Good thing I had a better plan for today.

"So what are you going to do today?" Margie asked, her hazel eyes deep pools of concern and a tint of something else I couldn't quite figure out.

"I have some plans." I grinned. "I think she'll have a good time."

"Yeah, I hope so..." Margie's eyes searched my face and I shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny. I felt as if she were peeling me like an orange, peeking into my thoughts. "Bobby... you're not actually going to try to make her fall in love, are you? Just get her in your good graces so she agrees to say she loves you?"

"I'm going to try." I said carefully, wondering why she was asking. "I've- I think Sadie is amazing. And if somehow in a crazy impossible way she did fall in love with me..." The thought warmed my belly. "If she doesn't fall in love, well, I don't think she'll lie. Because then we'll have to date and she won't want to. Then everyone will know it's a lie."

"Oh." She frowned, sinking into her chair and pulled her braid over her shoulder, twisting the ends into an ice cream shaped swirl.

"Margie, you're doing the thing." I said, looking pointedly at her twirling fingers. Just as she called me out when I scratched my ear, I called her out when she twisted the ends of her braid or ponytail.

"Oh." She wasn't looking at me though and her fingers kept working against the bristly brown ends.

"Margie, come on. What's wrong? You can tell me."

"Nothing. It's nothing." She looked away and I frowned deeply. Margie was never like this. I decided not to push it however, figuring she would sort it out in her own time. For now I had more important things on my hands.

~~~

The smell of grilling hot dogs hit my nose the second I stumbled into the lunchroom. Unlike most high schools, mine actually served pretty decent meals, and for that I was grateful. As I slipped into the lunch line that wound around the room, I started to build up my courage. Tomorrow the weekend started, so I had some important things to take care of.

Dealing with asking Sadie to the Renaissance Festival this weekend already made me flush and gnaw my tongue. The festival was a few cities over, which would require renting a hotel if she wanted to stay for more than one day. Tristan, Sam and I had been planning to go since last year and it turns out both were fine with me inviting someone else. It seemed that they also had some people to invite.

As the line moved along, I spied Sadie joining the end, laughing with one of her friends, her hair pulled into a tight ponytail and a pair of red earrings dangling from her ears, tangling in a few strands that had pulled loose from the tail. I almost started drooling, but caught myself in time.

"Hey, Bobby!" I turned to find Sam and Tristan running towards me. I waved. "Who're you inviting this weekend?" Sam asked, slightly out of breath. A strand of hair fell across her forehead; she brushed it away with an impatient swipe.

"I wanted to invite, um, Sadie, but that really depends if she wants to come."

"Oh. Cool!" Sam smiled, and I felt a rush of warmth towards her. Samantha never judged people harshly. "Do you mind if my sister comes along? She's only a year under us and keeps begging me to take her." I nodded with a shrug. "Awesome. Tristan?"